Bombay potato

Bombay potato, a wonderful accompaniment to to any curry dish. This version is mild and simply delicious.

Waxy potatoes are important here as we don’t want them to break up during cooking.

Introducing you to an ingredient you may have never used before but one you must not leave out. It is known by many names but mainly, kalonji seeds, Nigella seeds or black onion seeds.

These tiny black seeds play an important part in the flavour of this popular dish. It is quite a dry dish with a thick sauce and in my version I use potatoes part cooked in Turmeric, this gives a lovely flavour and colour.

As usual, here are links to the recipes for the ingredients you will need, base sauce, spice mix and ginger garlic paste. All other ingredients are available online, my goto place is spices of india.

The images in the slider above will help you for each stage.

The kalonji seeds, Nigella seeds or black onion seeds are available in many supermarkets or online at Spices of India.

Ingredients

4 Waxy potatoes peeled and quartered

400ml Base sauce (Recipe link above)

2 Teaspoons ginger garlic paste (Recipe link above)

Half a small onion thinly sliced

1 Teaspoon black onion seeds

2 Tablespoons spice mix

Small handful of crispy fried onions (These onions are available from any supermarket in small tubs, usually referred to as crispy salad onions or any Asian store or online)

1 Teaspoon sugar

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Level teaspoon Turmeric.

Pinch of pure chill powder (Rajah or Natco brand)

50ml Vegetable oil

Method

Step 1

Firstly we need to pre-cook the potatoes, you can make this a day ahead if you wish. Place the quartered potatoes into plenty of water add a pinch of salt and the teaspoon of Turmeric. Bring to the boil and simmer until they are just under cooked, IE; a toothpick pushes in with a bit of resistance. It is important not to fully cook them or they will just break up. Strain the potatoes and allow to go cold or you can use them now.

Step 2

Place a deep sided pan or wok on to a medium high heat, add the onion seeds and cook for 2 minutes. Add the onion and cook until they are just golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and stir. Add the spice mix, a pinch of chilli powder and stir, cook for a couple of minutes, do not allow the spices to burn.

Step 3

Add the potatoes and coat in the oil and spices. Add a ladle of base sauce and allow the oil to cook out and rise to the top. Add more of the base sauce a ladle at a time, each time allowing the sauce to thicken a little until you have the quantity of sauce you want. Add the sugar and the crispy fried onions, this will sweeten the dish a little and the onions will melt away leaving you a wonderful thick sauce.. Remember though that it is quite a dry dish not swimming sauce.